I’ve always believed that both of my children are creative and talented. My son, Joshua, 12, loves to build with Lego and to make videos. He’s got his own YouTube channel and is proud to say he has more than 80 subscribers to his channel. He made a movie trailer that really impressed me, and he’s in the process of filming his first movie. I think he’s on his way!

My daughter, Rachel, 14, entered high school this fall and has a wonderful singing voice. She had her first choral concert the other night, and it went well. Love to hear her sing!

What I didn’t know about my daughter, however, is that she has a love for writing poetry. And apparently, she’s quite good at it.

That became known to us today when she came home and told her mother and me that her English teacher, Ms. Howard, wrote this note to her:

“Wow, Rachel, you are by far the single most talented writer I’ve experienced in my entire career as a teacher of English. Your ability to express yourself is crisp, sharp (pun not intended) and poignant. Your flair for capturing feelings, your eloquence for imaging emotions and your brilliance for projecting your being to the very marrow of your bones is extraordinary. WOW!”

The poem she wrote was called, “The Girl Who Hides Behind the Screen.” I wonder what that means. Rachel says it’s because she loves to play video games on her computer. I’ll choose to believe that.

I started my professional career as a sports writer at age 14 and I’ve been writing ever since. I’m a published poet, but that was a long time ago. I’m now hoping that God opens the door for a book.

Rachel has always been insecure about her talents, but I pray that God uses this to boost her confidence and let her know just how good she is. If she becomes a better writer than her old man, that’s just fine with me.

And as I always like to say, “there is that.”